Blog 3

Jasmine Anderson
9|23|13
Blog entry 3



        The poem that I have choosing is titled "Silver Lining" by an amateur poet name Ali Gulamali. Gulamali is a 19 year old male poet from Pakistan who lives in the United States. He only has 6 other poems online. I have searched all over the internet for more information about this wonderful poet, unfortunately I haven't found any.  His work can only be found on the website www.allpoetry.com. I have choosing this particular piece of work because it's simply amazing. This poem has a huge connection to my life, it reminds me so much of my grandmother and her situation. The poem is scary , beautiful , motivating, and sad all at the same time. This poem has many symbols and can have various meaning.
        While reading the poem "Silver Lining" I've noticed that the author is using a lot of symbols and symbolic actions.  In the last line of the first sanza the author say's "Seems like knowledge is the only medicine They driving on the side and I feel like a pedestrian". The author uses the word pedestrian to express the sperekers feelings. To me this means that the speaker feels like an outcast among others. When the author compare a pedestrian to driver it shows me alot. The speaker feels as if he/she is doin the same things as others but it seems like a slower more challenge process. The author also uses symbolism in lines 21-22 by saying "Seems like all’s fair in this war so I gotta be my own grave digger Digging my pit, 6 by 6 I see dreams fading like all the rotting sticks".These two lines shows me that speaker is giving up, going out with out a fight and is losing all faith that he/she had. The speaker then says "A shadowy figure, Holding a trigger not a gun, but a phrase that attacks my inner". The symbols reveled in these lines shows me that the speaker is fighting some sort of sickness rather then a person or physical item.

        In order to fully understand the poem I had to find the denotation of many words. The first line says "Im walking on the barren road to perfection ". The denotation of barren is "showing no result or achievement unproductive". The denotation helped me understand that the speaker was trying  to reach perfection but he/she wasn't seeing any progression The last line in the second stanza says "I'm going step by step taking my time, wondering perplexed". The denotation of the word perplexed is "completely baffled; very puzzled". The denotation of perplexed helped me to understand that the speaker had no idea what was going to happen but he/she was still moving forward. The speaker also says" staying on the stray not daring to question". The denotation of stray is "moving away aimlessly from a group or from the right course or place". This helped me to understand that the speaker was trying to avoid his/her problems and didn't want to question things because he/she was afraid of the answers. 

       Over all I think that this poem was about the speaker overcoming his\her fears. To my understanding the speaker is battling cancer and he/she feels like an outcast because of the sickness. The beginning of the poem implies that the speaker has lost faith and just wanted to give up with out a fight. Gulamali describes the sickness as "a fire that burns inside". Later on in the poem the speaker expresses that he/she has decided to fight even though giving up is very tempting. When the speaker begins to see progress he/she thinks its unbelievable. The author uses an angle as a symbol for the progress that was being made. At the end of the poem the speaker finally realized that his/her strength was the reason for progress. Gulamali ended the poem by saying " on rainy days I must remember, the sun always shines after". To me this line is expresses the speakers joy and how happy he/she is with the outcome of a hard, long battle.

www.allpoets.com
Www.dictioary.com

    

 

Silver Lining

by Ali Gee

Im walking on the barren road to perfection
Gotta be careful what I pick from the selection
First thing you notice is ignorance in abundance
People claim they listen, but they can’t even stomach this
Stayin on the stray not daring to question
But I go straight seeking out a lesson
Seems like knowledge is the only medicine
They driving on the side and I feel like a pedestrian

I’m wandering, but I’m not lost
Money freezing my soul, but I’m scared to torch it
It’s so cold, and I’m embracing the frost
Seeking out knowledge, but not into paying a cost
You gotta know, what’s real comes with no loss
Keeping myself intact like an army of moss
Growing out my roots fearing a cross
Staring down my path, but what’s that across?

A shadowy figure, holding a trigger
Not a gun, but a phrase that attacks my inner
Seems like all’s fair in this war so I gotta be my own grave digger
Digging my pit, 6 by 6
I see dreams fading like all the rotting sticks
A home for the life in the next
Not rushing, I’m going step by step
Taking my time, wondering perplexed

I see red eyes and a fire that burns inside
Is this what evil really looks like without a disguise
I wish I could say I was surprised
But it’s nothing compared to what goes on behind these eyes
I gotta fight through this sight
I know the spirit within me is blind
But I feel this presence lurking over my shoulder holding out a prize
It’s tempting, but I know I gotta deny

I feel within me a sensation
An angel popping out of this modern day matrix
Killing the demon, coming to save this
So my faith is in one, making me of the bravest
Beauty beyond compare, freedom from my cage and
The sight’s too much to bare, im squinting like an asian (no racial)
Sent from the heavens, seemingly a savior
But it speaks…

Standing strong with might and he’s pointing at me
I’m an angel sent here to set you free
Your patience was key, it's what is necessary
I was confused, saying how could this be?
He came closer and said worship he who said BE
Creation followed with utmost simplicity
I had so many questions I wanted him to teach
But he came closer and leapt within me
At that moment I rose, contemplating my dream

I awoke from my sleep and learned of the answers
The power came from within, a shield to disasters
Faith exponentially stronger, urging me to move faster
I see now, this darkness was a cancer
Spreading through my soul, trying to be my master
There was only one way from here
Living with humility deservant of laughter
On rainy days I must remember, the sun always shines after

Blog 2

Jasmine Anderson
09|23|13
Blog Entry 2

 
          
        I've been looking all over the internet for a poem or song to write about. This task has been very challenging for me because I couldn't find anything that I could relate to that was also related to the supernatural theme of my English class. After reading about seventy-five poems and listening to about fifty songs I was at my wits-ends with this assignment. I thought to myself "the next poem I read will be the poem that I will write about no if's, and's, or but's. Ironically that poem was the perfect poem for me to do this assignment on.The poem is called "Silver Lining" by Ali Gulamali. Gulamali is an 19 year old male poet from Pakistan. He is also an amateur poet who only has 6 other poems online. His work can be found on the website www.allpoetry.com. I have choosing this particular piece of work because it's just simply amazing. This poem has a huge connection to my life, it reminds me so much of my grandmother and her battle with cancer. The poem is scary , beautiful , motivating, and sad all at the same time.

Blog entry 1 (The after effect)

  After the presentation and discussion of the poem "Original Sin: a Short Story" I can finally make some sense of the symbolism. I have come to the conclusion that the poem is mainly about the speakers past life experiences and how he or she cannot escape the painful memories from his/her childhood. The speaker is expressing how shameful his childhood has been.He uses many symbols in this poem that made me feel mixed emotions. The tone of the poem was kind of frightwning, but also sad.

       The presentation and discussion made the symbols very clear for me to understand. The speaker use visual symbols to replace his feelings. For example the first stanza says "Nodding, its great head rattling like a gourd, And locks like seaweed strung on the stinking stone,

The nightmare stumbles past, and you have heard It fumble your door before it whimpers and is gone: It acts like the old hound that used to snuffle your door and moan " . To me this explains how horrifying his pass has been, he uses this monster like creature to show the reader how scary his pass was. The last line of this stanza is really significant to me because the symbolism stands out dramatically. He is clarifying how much of  an annoyance these memory's are to him buy comparing to a hound dog that snuffle and moans.

    I also understand that the speaker was trying to escape the horrible memory's of his childhood ,but the experiences was just to unforgettable to get rid of. The speaker says "You thought you had lost it when you left Omaha,"But you met it in Harvard Yard as the historic steeple Was confirming the midnight with its hideous racket,And you wondered how it had come, ".After analyzing these few lines it was clear for me to understand that the speaker was trying to run from these memories but it had such a big impact on him that they would follow him his whole life no matter where he went.

     In conclusion I understand this poem much more after the presentation and discussion. I can finally understand the authors purpose for writing this poem. The symbols has now become very clear to me and makes sense to me on many levels. Overall discussing the poem as a group has been extremely helpful to me. Listening to my classmates opinions has helped me come up with my own understanding to this poem.

<3 :)